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Not a fan of the high heat and humidity? Neither are the fish. If you’ve been out over the last week you have likely seen the high temps have taken a toll on the bite, slowing it way down; but all is not lost, with patience and a little knowledge, you will fill your load your stringer.
Surface temperatures on most area lakes are sitting at nearly 80 degrees. Such warm water tends to drive the fish to deeper, cooler water. Those warm surface temps also wreak havoc on live bait, often killing it before the day is half over.
Before we get into the fish report, let’s talk about bait preservation. Nightcrawlers should be kept in moss rather than worm bedding so you can take the moss out when it starts to get warm, dunk it in the lake to cool it off, wring out the water and put it back in the container to keep the crawlers cool and alive. For minnows and leeches, put a heavy enough rock in the minnow bucket or leech locker to sing it to deeper, cooler water.
The best timeframe for walleye success is going to be at dawn or dusk to just after dark. A darker, overcast day with a little bit of walleye chop is also ideal for daytime walleye. Start your search by locating structure like sunken islands, points with steep drops or main lake breaks.
Troll the structure with a bottom bouncer and spinner tipped with a leech, a deep diving Rapala, or Scatter Rap starting at about 12 feet and prepared to work out to about 20 /25 feet to find them. Once you’ve hooked up three or four times, anchor and transition to a brightly colored 3/8th’s ounce jig tipped with a leech.
Large mouth bass are doling on the edge or relatively shallow weed beds, three to eight feet of water. Spoons and topwater crank baits are working well. A soft plastic whacky trig is nearly a failsafe tactic for explosive bass action. For live bait, a medium slip bobber set at about 5 feet over a large sucker minnow is very effective.
Small mouth bass are going to be found on rocky, shallow flats, ranging from 3-10 feet of water. In the rivers, they are going to be found on the edge of the current, river mouths or under bridges. The same presentations you use for the large mouth work equally well for the small mouth.
Northern pike are still holding relatively shallow, 3-10 feet of water near weed beds. Loud, flashy, brightly colored spoons, crank baits and spinner baits work great; throw one of grandpa’s old timey red and white Dare Devils and you’re almost sure to hook into some toothy slime. For more fun, throw Whopper Ploppers, frogs or similar topwater crankbaits. A large sucker minnow under a large slip bobber set at about 5-8 feet in the early evening is an easy tactic for pike as well.
Crappie are most active just after dawn and just before sunset, (8:00 – 8:45 PM). Look for shallow weed beds adjacent to steep drops. Cast brightly colored Beetle Spins, white or chartreuse, allowed to drop to about 8-10 feet before retrieving, have been producing some great slabs. A marabou jig tipped with a crappie minnow head, jigged vertically is another method many anglers are finding great success.
Lake trout continue to hold deep; 50+ feet down. If you plan to troll, outfit your rod with lead core line tipped with a flashy spoon or large, deep diving Salmo or Reef Runner.
